GARRIOCH: Ridly Greig has a chance to take another step in the right direction with the Ottawa Senators

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Ridly Greig garnered attention last season for a brief stint in the American Hockey League.

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Now, you have a chance to do it again, as the Ottawa Senators development camp is completed on Monday and the club’s rookie camp begins on Wednesday with two games against the Montreal Canadiens starting next Saturday at the Canadian Tire Center.

Taken 28th overall by the Senators in the 2020 NHL draft, the 19-year-old Greig hasn’t received as much fanfare as the two boys brought before him at No. 3 on winger Tim Stuetlze and defender. Jake Sanderson at No. 5. But there are many in the organization who believe that the Brandon Wheat Kings center may be an impact player in this league one day.

At 5-foot-11, Greig needs to get stronger before he can play in the NHL, but every time Belleville coach Troy Mann talked about the best prospect last season, he couldn’t say enough about how much he felt he could have played. in the AHL all season. Yes, Greig was able to play 21 games with Brandon, but he may have gained a lot by staying with Belleville.

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The job now is to show the organization the progress it has made.

“I haven’t looked at the depth chart, but my mentality is to play hard every time I’m on the ice and take this opportunity to push the limits,” said Greig on Saturday after the club’s first skating. at the Canadian Tire Center. “I want them to maybe make a difficult decision.”

While several youth players, especially those in the Ontario Hockey League, were inactive last season, Greig was lucky to be a wanted man. He started the year by playing a couple of games at Belleville, went back to Brandon, and then ended the year with the Senators. Mann liked him because he felt he was mature for his age and had a strong hockey IQ.

Mann stated in various interviews throughout the season that he felt Greig was the kind of talent who qualified for a “special player status” that would allow him to play for the AHL. That rule doesn’t exist between the Canadian Hockey League and the NHL because that would alienate a top-tier player from a youth team.

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Still, Greig had a chance to play at both levels last year, so he was lucky.

“It was a pretty wild season for me,” Greig said. “In general, I think I had a good year and my development was good to see the professional level and everything that is there.

“It helped me a lot and it opened my eyes to see how the rhythm is here and the strength of the players. You see the routine that players have at a professional level and that opportunity really helped me a lot in my development ”.

When you watch Greig play, he’s good on both ends of the ice and reminds him of Michael Peca, the former center of the Buffalo Sabers. He’s smart in all facets of the game and he’s not afraid to get involved.

“Ridly couldn’t have the full camp he wanted last year, but he’s here and he’s ready to compete,” Senators development coach Shean Donovan said. “He wants to prove himself and he’s super excited and ready to go. The important thing is that it has become stronger and the tests will show it. “

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There are many in the organization who are huge fans of Greig’s.

“If you talk to the coach at Belleville, he thinks he’s ready to play at Belleville, so if you follow his opinion, of course he’s ready to play professional hockey,” Ottawa head scout Trent Mann said last week. pass. “Would it be ideal if he just moved into professional hockey? Yes, but every NHL team has a player or two that they feel that way about.

“For us, I hope you come here, get off to a good start and stay at camp and fight for a place. There was a young player in the Zdeno Chara camp, and Chara told him that if you don’t come to the camp thinking of making the team, then you are preparing to stay behind. You have to go in with the mentality that I’m going to go in to rob a place. “

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Greig will likely be sent back to Brandon before the club’s season begins next month. Still, there’s a good chance that coach DJ Smith will see him in an exhibition game or two early in camp to see where Greig is at. He still has a lot to learn and this could be a great winter for Greig.

He didn’t have a chance to play at the World Youth Championship last December, but he should push for a spot with Team Canada this time which will be held again in Edmonton and Red Deer. A native of Lethbridge, he will be right in your backyard and would love to play.

“It would be quite unreal to have all that experience in front of a crowd of 20,000 people. That would be a great time for my family and friends. “Said Greig.

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Twitter: @sungarrioch